Coordinate information updating device

ABSTRACT

An object can be displayed on a screen of a two-dimensional coordinate system based on xyz-coordinate values of the object in a three-dimensional coordinate system, operation information of a two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to the object can be received from an input device, and whether the operation information is in accordance with a predetermined rule or not is determined. If the operation information is not in accordance with the predetermined rule, xy-coordinate values of the object can be updated in accordance with the operation information. If the operation information is in accordance with the predetermined rule, a z-coordinate value of the object can be updated in accordance with the operation information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/392,966 filed Feb. 28, 2012, which is the National StageEntry of PCT/US2011/034000 filed Apr. 26, 2011, which claims priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2010-124275, filed May 31, 2010. Theforegoing applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Recently, images showing three-dimensional objects are generated becauseof development of computer graphics techniques. The screens of variouselectronic devices such as personal computers, mobile phones, and TVsuse a two-dimensional coordinate system; therefore, the coordinatevalues of the objects of a three-dimensional coordinate system aredisplayed on the screens after being converted to those of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system. In order to carry out operations ofthe three-dimensional coordinate system with respect to thethree-dimensional objects which are two-dimensionally shown in thismanner, for example, a special mouse described in the art is capable ofhandling the operations of the three-dimensional coordinate system.

SUMMARY

However, an input device used by a general electronic device is ageneral mouse, touchpad, or the like which outputs the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system. Therefore, in suchan electronic device, in order to make a transition to an operation ofthe three-dimensional coordinate system when carrying out an operationof the two-dimensional coordinate system, a switching operation isrequired in addition to the operation of the two-dimensional coordinatesystem, which is cumbersome. For example, in the state in which athree-dimensional object two-dimensionally shown on a screen is selectedby the input device, in other words, in the state in which the object isclicked by a mouse or tapped by a touchpad, when the input device istwo-dimensionally moved, the x-coordinate value and the y-coordinatevalue of the object are changed in accordance with the movement. If thez-coordinate value of the object is required to be changed at thispoint, first, the selected state of the object is cancelled once, and anoperation of giving an order to carry out the operation of thez-coordinate is then carried out. Then, the object is selected again;and, when the input device is two-dimensionally moved, the z-coordinatevalue of the object can be changed.

Therefore, easily carrying out the processing with respect to thecoordinate values of an object in the three-dimensional coordinatesystem by using an input device capable of outputting the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system is desired.

A coordinate information updating device of the present disclosureincludes: a coordinate storing unit configured for storing a coordinatevalue of an object in a three-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z); atwo-dimensional converting unit configured for converting xyz-coordinatevalues to coordinate values of a two-dimensional coordinate system (X,Y) and displaying the converted coordinate values on a screen; anoperation information receiving unit configured for receiving operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to theobject from an input device; an operation information determining unitconfigured for determining whether the operation information is inaccordance with a predetermined rule or not; and a coordinate updatingunit configured for, based on a result of the determination of theoperation information determining unit, if the operation information isnot in accordance with the predetermined rule, updating thexy-coordinate values of the object in accordance with the operationinformation and, if the operation information is in accordance with thepredetermined rule, updating a z-coordinate value of the object inaccordance with the operation information.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined rule may be a rule that a trajectory of XY-coordinatevalues corresponding to the operation information includes apredetermined trajectory.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined rule may be a rule that the trajectory ofXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information includesthe predetermined trajectory within a predetermined period of time.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined rule may be a rule that the trajectory of theXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation informationcontinuously includes the predetermined trajectory a plurality of times.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined trajectory may be a trajectory reaching an end pointwithin a predetermined range via a point distant from a start point by apredetermined distance or more, a distance of the end point within thepredetermined range from the start point being shorter than thepredetermined distance.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined trajectory may be an approximately-circulartrajectory.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined rule may be a rule that a plurality of trajectories ofXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information includea predetermined trajectory.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the predetermined rule may be a rule that the plurality of trajectoriesof the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation informationinclude the predetermined trajectory within a predetermined period oftime.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,when the operation information is determined to be in accordance withthe predetermined rule, the coordinate updating unit may update thez-coordinate value of the object based on a distance and a direction ofa trajectory of XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation after the determination.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the coordinate updating unit may update the z-coordinate value of theobject based on the distance, the direction, and a speed of thetrajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation.

In the coordinate information updating device of the present disclosure,the coordinate updating unit may update the z-coordinate value of theobject in accordance with the operation information after thedetermination that the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values includesthe predetermined trajectory.

A coordinate information generating device of the present disclosureincludes: an operation information receiving unit configured forreceiving from an input device operation information of atwo-dimensional coordinate system with respect to an object displayed ona screen of a two-dimensional coordinate system (X, Y); a coordinategenerating unit configured for generating a z-coordinate value of theobject in a three-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z) based on theoperation information and generating xy-coordinate values of the objectbased on the z-coordinate value; and a coordinate storing unitconfigured for storing the xyz-coordinate values of the object generatedby the coordinate generating unit.

In the coordinate information generating device of the presentdisclosure, the operation information may include XY-coordinateinformation specifying XY-coordinate values of the object andz-coordinate information for generating a z-coordinate value of theobject; and the coordinate generating unit may generate the z-coordinatevalue of the object based on the z-coordinate information and generatethe xy-coordinate values based on the z-coordinate value and theXY-coordinate information.

In the coordinate information generating device of the presentdisclosure, the coordinate generating unit may generate the z-coordinatevalue of the object based on a distance and a direction of a trajectoryof the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the z-coordinateinformation.

In the coordinate information generating device of the presentdisclosure, the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding tothe z-coordinate information may include an approximately-circulartrajectory.

In the present specification, “unit” includes a unit realized byhardware, a unit realized by software, and a unit realized by using bothof them. One unit may be realized by using two or more hardware, and twoor more units may be realized by one piece of hardware.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 includes a drawing showing an example of the functionalconfiguration of a coordinate information updating device.

FIG. 2 includes a drawing showing a hardware configuration example ofthe coordinate information updating device.

FIG. 3 includes a drawing showing an example of a point P (x, y, z) in athree-dimensional coordinate system and the point P (X, Y) converted toa two-dimensional coordinate system.

FIG. 4 includes a drawing showing examples of the trajectory of thecoordinate values of the two-dimensional coordinate system of theoperation information for changing a z-coordinate value.

FIG. 5 includes a drawing showing an example of the method fordetermining that the trajectory of the coordinate values of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system of the operation information is anapproximately circular trajectory.

FIG. 6 includes a flow chart showing an example of a coordinateinformation updating process.

FIG. 7 includes a drawing showing an example of the functionalconfiguration of a coordinate information 25 generating device.

FIG. 8 includes a flow chart showing an example of a coordinateinformation generating process.

FIG. 9 includes a drawing showing an example of switching to an updatingprocess of the z-coordinate value by the trajectory of the coordinatevalues of the two-dimensional coordinate system different from anapproximately-circular shape.

FIG. 10 includes a drawing showing an example of switching to theupdating process of the z-coordinate value by a plurality oftrajectories of coordinate values of the two-dimensional coordinatesystem.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the functional configuration of a coordinateinformation updating device, which is an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The coordinate information updating device is an electronicdevice capable of updating the coordinate values of a three-dimensionalobject, which is two-dimensionally displayed by a display device 12, ina three-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z) in accordance withoperation information of a two-dimensional coordinate system (X, Y)output from an input device 14, and the coordinate information updatingdevice 10 is, for example, a personal computer or the like. Herein, thedisplay device 12 is a device capable of displaying images by thetwo-dimensional coordinate system and is a liquid crystal display, anorganic EL display, or the like. The input device 14 is a device capableof outputting the operation information of the two-dimensionalcoordinate system and is a mouse, a touch panel, a touchpad, or thelike. The coordinate information updating device 10 may be composedintegrally with the display device 12 and the input device 14 like, forexample, a mobile terminal, a TV, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coordinate information updating device 10 iscomposed of a coordinate storing unit 20, a two-dimensional convertingunit 22, an operation information receiving unit 24, an operationinformation determining unit 26, and a coordinate updating unit 28. FIG.2 is a drawing showing an example of the hardware configuration of thecoordinate information updating device 10. As shown in FIG. 2, thecoordinate information updating device 10 can be composed of: a CPU 40,a memory 42, a hard disk drive 44, a display interface 46, and an inputinterface 48. The coordinate storing unit 20 can be composed by usingthe memory 42 or the hard disk drive 44. The two-dimensional convertingunit 22, the operation information receiving unit 24, the operationinformation determining unit 26, and the coordinate updating unit 28 canbe realized when the CPU 40 executes one or more programs stored in thememory 42.

The coordinate storing unit 20 stores the coordinate values of theobject in the three-dimensional coordinate system. In other words, thex-axis, y-axis, and z-axis coordinate values of the points specifyingthe position of the object are stored in the coordinate storing unit 20.Herein, the points specifying the position of the object are, forexample, the center point, vertices, etc. of the object. Note that thethree-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z) can be arbitrarily set,and the system is not limited to the orthogonal coordinate system, butmay be a polar coordinate system.

The two-dimensional converting unit 22 converts the coordinate values ofthe three-dimensional coordinate system to the coordinate values of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system, thereby two-dimensionally displayingthe three-dimensional object by the display device 12 via the displayinterface 46. In other words, the two-dimensional converting unit 22converts the coordinate values (x, y, z) of a point P, which istwo-dimensionally displayed in a pseudo manner as shown in FIG. 3 (a),in the three-dimensional coordinate system to the coordinate values (X,Y) in the two-dimensional coordinate system as shown in FIG. 3 (b).Herein, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), when the angle formed by the x-axis andthe z-axis when the three-dimensional coordinate system istwo-dimensionally displayed in the pseudo manner is 0, the coordinatevalues (X, Y) of the point P in the two-dimensional coordinate systemcan be obtained by X=x-z·cos θ, Y=y−z·sin θ.

The operation information receiving unit 24 receives the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to theobject displayed by the display device 12 from the input device 14 viathe input interface 48. Herein, the input device 14 is a device capableof outputting the two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to theobject, in other words, X-axis/Y-axis operation information and is amouse, touchpad, a touch panel, or the like.

Depending on whether the operation information received by the operationinformation receiving unit 24 is in accordance with a predetermined ruleor not, the operation information determining unit 26 determines whetherthe operation information represents the operation with respect toXY-coordinate values, in other words, xy-coordinate values or theoperation with respect to the z-coordinate value.

Specifically, the operation information determining unit 26 determineswhether the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to theoperation information is a predetermined trajectory or not. In thepresent embodiment, when the trajectory of the XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information has a clockwiseapproximately-circular shape as exemplified in FIG. 4 (a), the operationinformation determining unit 26 determines that the operation isintended to change the z-coordinate value of the object in a positivedirection. When the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values correspondingto the operation information has an anticlockwise approximately-circularshape as exemplified in FIG. 4 (b), the operation informationdetermining unit 26 determines that the operation is intended to changethe z-coordinate value of the object in a negative direction. The reasontherefor is that the operation in which an operation start position andan operation end position are not different from each other in thetwo-dimensional coordinate system (X, Y) is unnatural as an operationfor moving the object, and the possibility of carrying out such anoperation when the xy-coordinate values are to be updated is conceivedto be low.

Note that the operation information determining unit 26 may determinethat the operation information is in accordance with a predeterminedrule when the trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information continuously form anapproximately-circular trajectory a plurality of times withinpredetermined period of time. By virtue of this, the determinationaccuracy of the operation information determining unit 26 can beimproved.

Herein, whether the trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information is approximately circular ornot can be determined depending on, for example, whether the trajectoryof the two-dimensional coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation is included between two circles having a common center pointand mutually-different radii as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 5.Note that the determination of the approximately-circular trajectory bythe operation information determining unit 26 is not limited thereto.

The coordinate updating unit 28 updates the xy-coordinate values or thez-coordinate value with respect to the object displayed by thetwo-dimensional coordinate system based on the determination result ofthe operation information determining unit 26. For example, in the casein which the z-coordinate value is to be updated by the clockwise oranticlockwise approximately-circular operation as shown in FIG. 4, thecoordinate updating unit 28 updates the z-coordinate value based on thedistance, direction, and speed of the trajectory of the XY-coordinatevalues corresponding to the operation information. For example, if thetrajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation is circular, the change amount of the z-coordinate value canbe caused to be proportional to the number of rotation of the circles.Alternatively, for example, even when the number of rotation of thetrajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation is the same, the change amount of the z-coordinate value perone rotation can be changed in accordance with the moving speed thereof.In other words, for example, even if the circles have the sametrajectory, the change amount of the z-coordinate value per one rotationcan be caused to be small when the speed is slow, and the change amountof the z-coordinate value per one rotation can be caused to be largewhen the speed is fast. Note that the speed may be an angular speed orlinear speed. Alternatively, for example, even when the number ofrotation of the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding tothe operation information is the same, the change amount of thez-coordinate value per one rotation can be changed in accordance withthe size of the circle.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of an updating process ofcoordinate information in the present embodiment. For example, the casein which the coordinate values of a plurality of three-dimensionalobjects in the three-dimensional coordinate system are stored in thecoordinate storing unit 20 is presupposed. In this case, thetwo-dimensional converting unit 22 converts the coordinate values of thethree-dimensional coordinate system to the coordinate values of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system, thereby two-dimensionally displayingthe plurality of three-dimensional objects on the display device 12.

In such a state, a user selects a certain object as an operation targetand carries out an operation with respect to the object by using theinput device 14. As a result, the operation information of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system with respect to the selected object isoutput from the input device 14. Herein, the action of selecting theobject as the operation target can be carried out, for example, byclicking the object if the input device 14 is a mouse or by tapping theobject if the input device 14 is a touchpad or a touch panel.

Then, the operation information receiving unit 24 receives the operationinformation output from the input device 14 in this manner (S601). Theoperation information determining unit 26 determines whether thereceived operation information is in accordance with the predeterminedrule or not (S602). In other words, the operation informationdetermining unit 26 determines whether the trajectory of theXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information is anapproximately-circular trajectory or not.

If the determination result of the operation information determiningunit 26 indicates that the operation information is not in accordancewith the predetermined rule (S602: N), the coordinate updating unit 28updates the xy-coordinate values of the object based on the trajectoryof the coordinate values corresponding to the operation information(S603).

If the determination result of the operation information determiningunit 26 indicates that the operation information is in accordance withthe predetermined rule (S602: Y), the operation information receivingunit 24 further receives the operation information of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system (S604) after the determination of theoperation information determining unit 26. Then, after the determinationof the operation information determining unit 26, the coordinateupdating unit 28 updates the z-coordinate value of the object based onthe operation information of the two-dimensional coordinate systemreceived within a predetermined period (S605). In other words, thecoordinate updating unit 28 updates the z-coordinate value of the objectbased on the distance, direction, and speed of theapproximately-circular trajectory of the XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information received after thedetermination. Specifically, if the trajectory of the XY-coordinatevalues corresponding to the operation information is a clockwiseapproximately-circular trajectory, the operation information determiningunit 26 changes the z-coordinate value of the object toward the positiveside in accordance with the distance and the speed of the trajectory. Ifthe trajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to theoperation information is an anticlockwise approximately-circulartrajectory, the operation information determining unit 26 changes thez-coordinate value of the object toward the negative side in accordancewith the distance and the speed of the trajectory.

The direction and the speed of the trajectory of the XY-coordinatevalues corresponding to the operation information of the two-dimensionalcoordinate system are not required to be constant, but may be changedduring the operation. In other words, the z-coordinate value of theobject can be finely adjusted by changing the direction and the speed ofthe trajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to theoperation information during the operation. The coordinate updating unit28 may cause the operation information of the two-dimensional coordinatesystem received upon the determination by the operation informationdetermining unit 26 to be reflected to the updating amount of thez-coordinate value. For example, in the case in which switching to theupdating process of the z-coordinate value is carried out when thetrajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation forms an approximate circle two times, the operationinformation determining unit 26 may update the z-coordinate value basedon the distance, direction, and speed of the trajectory of the tworotations.

Then, the coordinate updating unit 28 updates the xyz-coordinate values,which are recorded in the coordinate storing unit 20, in accordance withthe updated xy-coordinate values or z-coordinate value (S606). When thexyz-coordinate values recorded in the coordinate storing unit 20 areupdated, the two-dimensional converting unit 22 converts the updatedxyz-coordinate values to XY-coordinate values of the two-dimensionalcoordinate system (S607) and updates the two-dimensional displayposition of the object displayed by the display device 12 (S608).

While the input of the operation information with respect to theselected object is carried out, the process of updating thexy-coordinate values or the z-coordinate value based on the operationinformation (S601 to S608) is repeatedly executed (S609: N). The inputof the operation information with respect to the object is finished whenthe selected state of the object is cancelled (S609: Y). Herein, thecancellation of the selected state of the object can be carried out by,for example, cancelling the click or clicking another object if theinput device 14 is a mouse; or, if the input device 14 is a touchpad ora touch panel, the cancellation can be carried out by cancelling the tapor tapping another object.

In this manner, according to the coordinate information updating device10 of the present embodiment, whether update of the xy-coordinate valuesis to be carried out or update of the z-coordinate value is to becarried out can be switched by determining whether the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system is in accordancewith the predetermined rule or not. In other words, switching betweenthe updating process of the xy-coordinate values of the object and theupdating process of the z-coordinate value of the object can be switchedwhile remaining in the moving operation of the two-dimensionalcoordinate system (X, Y) without carrying out a cumbersome switchingoperation.

FIG. 7 is a drawing showing the functional configuration of a coordinateinformation generating device which is an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The coordinate information generating device 100 is anelectronic device capable of generating the coordinate values of athree-dimensional object, which is two-dimensionally displayed by thedisplay device 12, in the three-dimensional coordinate system (x, y, z)in accordance with the operation information of the two-dimensionalcoordinate system (X, Y) output from the input device 14.

As shown in FIG. 7, the coordinate information generating device 100 iscomposed of a coordinate storing unit 110, an operation informationreceiving unit 112, a coordinate generating unit 114, and a coordinaterecording unit 116. The coordinate information generating device 100 canhave a hardware configuration similar to that of the coordinateinformation updating device 10 of the embodiment described above, andthe coordinate storing unit 110 can be composed by using the memory 42or the hard disk drive 44. Therefore, the operation informationreceiving unit 112, the coordinate generating unit 114, and thecoordinate recording unit 116 can be realized by executing a program(s)stored in the memory 42 by the CPU 40.

The coordinate storing unit 110 stores the xyz-coordinate values of thetwo-dimensionally-displayed three-dimensional object in thethree-dimensional coordinate system. The xyz-coordinate values in thethree-dimensional coordinate system are generated in accordance with theoperations of a user.

The operation information receiving unit 112 receives the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to thethree-dimensional object, which is displayed by the display device 12,from the input device 14.

The coordinate generating unit 114 generates a z-coordinate value of theobject in the three-dimensional coordinate system based on the operationinformation of the two-dimensional coordinate system with respect to thethree-dimensional object and, based on the generated z-coordinate value,generates xy-coordinate values of the object in the three-dimensionalcoordinate system. Specifically, the coordinate generating unit 114generates the z-coordinate value based on the distance, direction, andspeed of the trajectory of XY-coordinate values corresponding to theoperation information. In the present embodiment, the coordinategenerating unit 114 generates the z-coordinate value by a clockwise oranticlockwise approximately-circular operation as exemplified in FIG. 4.For example, if the trajectory of the XY-coordinate values correspondingto the operation information is circular, the change amount of thez-coordinate value can be caused to be proportional to the number ofrotation of the circles. Alternatively, for example, even when thenumber of rotation of the trajectory of the XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information is the same, the changeamount of the z-coordinate value per one rotation can be changed inaccordance with the moving speed thereof In other words, for example,even if the circles have the same trajectory, the change amount of thez-coordinate value per one rotation can be caused to be small when thespeed is slow, and the change amount of the z-coordinate value per onerotation can be caused to be large when the speed is fast. Note that thespeed may be an angular speed or linear speed. Alternatively, forexample, even when the number of rotation of the trajectory of theXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information is thesame, the change amount of the z-coordinate value per one rotation canbe changed in accordance with the size of the circle.

The coordinate recording unit 116 records the coordinate values of theobject in the three-dimensional coordinate system, which are generatedby the coordinate generating unit 114, into the coordinate storing unit110.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of a coordinate informationgenerating process in the present embodiment. Herein, the state in whicha three-dimensional object of which coordinate values in thethree-dimensional coordinate system is unknown is two-dimensionallydisplayed by the display device 12 is presupposed.

In this state, the operation information receiving unit 112 receives theXY-coordinate values of a particular point of the object in thetwo-dimensional coordinate system, wherein the point serves as a targetfor generating the coordinate values thereof in the three-dimensionalcoordinate system (S801). The particular point of the object can bespecified by selecting the particular point of the two-dimensionallydisplayed object by the input device 14. Herein, the action of selectingthe particular point of the object can be carried out, for example, byclicking the target point if the input device 14 is a. mouse; or, if theinput device 14 is a touchpad. or a touch panel, the action can becarried out by tapping the target point.

Furthermore, the operation information receiving unit 112 receives theoperation information of the two-dimensional coordinate system withrespect to the selected particular point (S802). Then, the coordinategenerating unit 114 generates the z-coordinate value of the selectedparticular point based on the received operation information (S803). Inthe present embodiment, the coordinate generating unit 114 generates thez-coordinate value of the selected particular point based on thedistance, direction, and speed of the approximately-circular trajectoryof the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information.Specifically, if the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation form a clockwise approximately-circular trajectory asexemplified in FIG. 4 (a), the coordinate generating unit 114 changesthe z-coordinate value in a positive direction from an initial value(for example, zero) in accordance with the distance and the speed of thetrajectory. If the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation form an anticlockwise approximately-circular trajectory asexemplified in FIG. 4 (b), the coordinate generating unit 114 changesthe z-coordinate value in a negative direction from the initial value(for example, zero) in accordance with the distance and the speed of thetrajectory.

Then, based on the XY-coordinate values of the selected particular pointand the generated z-coordinate value, the coordinate generating unit 114generates the xy-coordinate values thereof in the three-dimensionalcoordinate system (S804). Herein, when the angle formed by the x-axisand the z-axis when the three-dimensional coordinate system is displayedon a two-dimensional screen in the pseudo manner is 0, the xy-coordinatevalues in the three-dimensional coordinate system can be obtained byx=X+z·cos θ, y=Y+z·sin θ. Note that the coordinate generating unit 114can display the xyz-coordinate values of the three-dimensionalcoordinate system by the display device 12 during generation of thevalues with respect to the selected particular point.

While the input of the operation information with respect to theselected object is carried out, the process of updating the z-coordinatevalue and the xy-coordinate values based on the operation information(S802 to S804) is repeatedly executed (S805: N). Note that the input ofthe operation information with respect to the object is finished whenthe selected state of the particular point of the object is cancelled(S805: Y). Herein, the cancellation of the selected state of theparticular point of the object can be carried out by, for example,cancelling the click or clicking another point if the input device 14 isa mouse; or, if the input device 14 is a touchpad or a touch panel, thecancellation can be carried out by cancelling the tap or tapping anotherpoint.

Then, the coordinate recording unit 116 records the generatedxyz-coordinate values of the three-dimensional system in the coordinatestoring unit 110 in association with the information representing theparticular point of the object such as XY-coordinate values thereof inthe two-dimensional coordinate system (S806).

In this manner, according to the coordinate information generatingdevice 100 of the present embodiment, the coordinate values of theparticular point of the two-dimensionally-displayed three-dimensional 20object in the three-dimensional coordinate system can be generated whileremaining in the operation of the two-dimensional coordinate system (X,Y) without carrying out a cumbersome switching operation between thetwo-dimensional operation and the three-dimensional operation.Therefore, various processes in three-dimensional space using thecoordinate values of the three-dimensional coordinate system can becarried out. For example, the position of an object in three-dimensionalspace can be changed by using the generated coordinate values of thethree-dimensional coordinate system by the method shown in theembodiment described above, or the direction of a three-dimensionalobject upon two-dimensional display can be changed.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above describedembodiments, and various modifications, additions, and omission can bemade by those skilled in the art without deviating from the idea andscope expressed by the claims.

For example, in one embodiment, the operation information determiningunit 26 determines that the update of the z-coordinate value is to becarried out when the trajectory of the coordinate values of thetwo-dimensional coordinate system corresponding to the operationinformation is approximately circular; however, the predetermined rulefor determining the operation information is not limited thereto.

For example, the operation information determining unit 26 may determinethat the update of the z-coordinate value is to be carried out when thetrajectory of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the operationinformation reaches an end point E via a position distant from a startpoint S by a predetermined distance dl or more, wherein the distance ofthe end point E from the start point S is within a predetermined ranged2 (<d1) as shown in FIG. 9. The reason therefor is that, as well as thecase of the approximately-circular shape, the possibility of carryingout such an operation is conceived to be low when the xy-coordinatevalues are to be normally updated.

Alternatively, for example, the operation information determining unit26 may determine that the update of the z-coordinate value is to becarried out when a. plurality of trajectories of XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information are predeterminedtrajectories. For example, if the input device 14 is a touchpad or atouch panel, the determination that the update of the z-coordinate valueis to be carried out may be made when a pinching action or an expandingaction is carried out by two fingers 120 and 122 with respect to aselected object as exemplified in FIG. 10. The reason therefor is that,normally, there is no possibility that the xy-coordinate values areupdated based on a plurality of simultaneously generated trajectories.Then, after it is determined that the update of the z-coordinate valueis to be carried out, the coordinate updating unit 28 may update thez-coordinate value based on the distance, direction, and speed of thetrajectories of the XY-coordinate values corresponding to the pinchingaction or expanding action.

In the first embodiment, the trajectory of the XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information upon switching to theupdating process of the z-coordinate value and the trajectory of theXY-coordinate values corresponding to the operation information uponupdating of the z-coordinate value are both approximately-circulartrajectories; however, the rules of the operation information uponswitching and upon update are not required to be the same. For example,switching to the updating process of the z-coordinate value may becarried out when the trajectory of the XY-coordinate valuescorresponding to the operation information is approximately circular;and, then, for example, the z-coordinate value may be updated inaccordance with the distance, direction, and speed of anapproximately-linear trajectory of the XY-coordinate corresponding tooperation information. The same also applies to the case in which it isdetermined that the update of the z-coordinate value is to be carriedout when the plurality of trajectories corresponding to the operationinformation are predetermined trajectories.

The embodiments and the technical characteristics of variousmodifications explained above can be employed in arbitrary combinations.

1. A system for adjusting depth of an image of a three dimensionalobject, the system comprising: a two-dimensional display deviceconfigured to display an image of a three dimensional object; an inputinterface configured to receive operation information for adjusting adepth of the image; an operation information determining unit configuredto determine whether a trajectory of two-dimensional coordinate valuesin a first plane of the operation information is in accordance with apredetermined rule; and an updating unit configured to adjust a depth ofthe image in a second plane orthogonal to the first plane based on theoperation information when the trajectory of the two-dimensionalcoordinate values in the first plane of the operation information is inaccordance with the predetermined rule.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the predetermined rule is the two-dimensional coordinate valuesin the first plane of the operation information forming anapproximately-circular trajectory.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein thedepth is increased when the trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinatevalues in the first plane of the operation information form theapproximately-circular trajectory in a clockwise direction.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the depth is decreased when the trajectory ofthe two-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of theoperation information form the approximately-circular trajectory in acounter-clockwise direction.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein an amountof the depth adjustment is proportional to a number ofapproximately-circular rotations formed by the trajectory of thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operation informationdetermining unit determines whether the trajectory of thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation is in accordance with the predetermined rule based onwhether the trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate values in thefirst plane of the operation information is included between two circleshaving a common center and mutually-different radii.
 7. A method ofadjusting depth of an image, the method comprising: two-dimensionallydisplaying an image of a three dimensional object on a two-dimensionaldisplay; receiving operation information for changing a scale of theimage; determining whether a trajectory of two-dimensional coordinatevalues in a first plane of the operation information is in accordancewith a predetermined rule; and based on a result of the determination,changing the scale of the image in a second plane orthogonal to thefirst plane based on the operation information when the trajectory ofthe two-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of theoperation information is in accordance with the predetermined rule. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined rule is thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation forming an approximately-circular trajectory.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein the scale is increased when the trajectory of thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation form the approximately-circular trajectory in a clockwisedirection.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the scale is decreasedwhen the trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate values in thefirst plane of the operation information form the approximately-circulartrajectory in a counter-clockwise direction.
 11. The method of claim 7,wherein an amount of change of the scale is proportional to a number ofapproximately-circular rotations formed by the trajectory of thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining whetherthe trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate values in the firstplane of the operation information is in accordance with thepredetermined rule is based on whether the trajectory of thetwo-dimensional coordinate values in the first plane of the operationinformation is included between two circles having a common center andmutually-different radii.
 13. A method for displaying athree-dimensional object on a two-dimensional display, comprising:two-dimensionally displaying a three-dimensional object on atwo-dimensional display; receiving operation information for changing ascale of the two-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional object;determining whether a trajectory of the operation information is inaccordance with a predetermined rule; and based on a result of thedetermination, changing the scale of the two-dimensionally displayedthree-dimensional object when the trajectory of the operationinformation is in accordance with the predetermined rule.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 13, wherein the predetermined rule is a clockwise orcounterclockwise approximately-circular trajectory.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 14, wherein the changing the scale of thetwo-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional object comprises:enlarging the two-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional object whenthe trajectory of the operation information is in accordance with thepredetermined rule of the clockwise approximately-circular trajectory;and reducing the two-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional objectwhen the trajectory of the operation information is in accordance withthe predetermined rule of the counterclockwise approximately-circulartrajectory.
 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein when thetrajectory of the operation information is determined to be inaccordance with the predetermined rule, the change amount of the scaleof the two-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional object isproportional to a number of approximately-circular rotations formed bythe trajectory of the operation information.
 17. The method according toclaim 13, wherein the determining whether the trajectory of theoperation information is in accordance with the predetermined rule isbased on whether the trajectory of the operation information is includedbetween two circles having a common center and mutually-different radii.18. A computer readable storage medium configured to cause a system toperform operations to change a scale of a two-dimensionally displayedthree-dimensional object, the operations comprising: two-dimensionallydisplaying a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional display;receiving operation information for changing a scale of thetwo-dimensionally displayed three-dimensional object; determiningwhether a trajectory of the operation information is in accordance witha predetermined rule; and based on a result of the determination,changing the scale of the two-dimensionally displayed three-dimensionalobject when the trajectory of the operation information is in accordancewith the predetermined rule.
 19. A computer readable storage mediumconfigured to cause a system to perform operations to change a scale ofan image of a three dimensional object, the operations comprising:two-dimensionally displaying an image of a three dimensional object on atwo-dimensional display; receiving operation information for changing ascale of the image; determining whether a trajectory of two-dimensionalcoordinate values in a first plane of the operation information is inaccordance with a predetermined rule; and based on a result of thedetermination, changing the scale of the image in a second planeorthogonal to the first plane based on the operation information whenthe trajectory of the two-dimensional coordinate values in the firstplane of the operation information is in accordance with thepredetermined rule.